


I Pay Thee in Gold

by Sanalith



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-30
Updated: 2012-09-30
Packaged: 2017-11-15 08:38:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 939
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/525362
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sanalith/pseuds/Sanalith
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In a rare calm moment after the breaking of the curse, Belle asks why Rumpelstiltskin chose her as his price for saving her village.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I Pay Thee in Gold

**Author's Note:**

> Title comes from the amazing book _If I Pay Thee Not in Gold_ by Piers Anthony and Mercedes Lackey.

“Why did you deal for me?”  
  
Snuggled comfortably together on the couch in his spacious home, Belle cuddled closer to Mr. Gold, her words vibrating gently across his chest.  
  
“What’s that, dearie?” Gold threaded his fingers through her dark curls.  
  
“Back in the old word. When my father called you to save us from the ogres.” She tilted her face up slightly. “Why did you choose me as your end of the bargain?”  
  
“How could I  _not_?” he replied simply. “You expect me to miss a truly golden opportunity? To have the most beautiful, kind, gentle, generous woman in all the realms by my side for eternity?” He gave her a gamine grin straight from the Dark Castle. “I don’t miss deals like that, love.”  
  
Belle elbowed him slightly. “But you couldn’t have known all that!” she protested. “You’d only just seen me. You asked for me almost as soon as you walked in the door. You came in _knowing_  you wanted me.” Her blue eyes captured his intently. “Why?”  
  
Gold hesitated briefly, but the time for lies and half-truths were far behind them, shattered to pieces like Regina’s curse. “Well that’s easy, dearie.” He kissed the top of her head. “That wasn’t the first time I’d seen you.”  
  
“Oh really?” Belle laughed lightly. “What were you doing, spying on me? The great and powerful Rumpelstiltskin, reduced to skulking around corners and behind drapes to steal a secret glance?”  
  
“Not quite, I’m afraid.” Gold pulled her closer, draping her more comfortably across his lap. “When I received the letter from your father, I had half a mind to simply ignore it. He wasn’t the first, nor the last, to make such a silly offer. But you see, only two kinds of people tried to ply me with gold – fools and the most desperate of souls.”  
  
“And you never could resist the desperate,” Belle murmured, remembering.  
  
“Never,” he agreed. “So you were half right, I suppose. I  _did_  take myself to your castle, cloaked in shadows, and watched. If your father had been a blundering idiot, I would have had a good laugh and been on my way.”  
  
Belle shivered slightly, still a trifle uncomfortable with how callous her lover could be. If he’d deemed her father unworthy, he would have simply allowed the ogres to overrun their land and never given them another thought.  
  
“I’m not an easy man to love, Belle,” Gold reminded her, tightening his arms, as though he could read her thoughts. “Not then and not now. I’ve never pretended otherwise.”  
  
Belle grasped his hand and squeezed it reassuringly. “I know. I know. But I loved you then and I love you now. All of you. The Dark One and the crippled spinner and the pawnbroker.” She raised her eyes to his. “And I’ve never pretended otherwise, either.”  
  
Gold closed his eyes briefly, an action she knew he only took when he was truly overwhelmed, and she stroked his hand in comfort. Theirs was not an easy love, but she’d never trade it, no matter what.  
  
“You were saying?” she prodded, returning him to his tale.  
  
“Ah. Yes.” Gold opened his eyes and shook his head briefly. “I saw quickly that your father was no fool. He wanted only to protect his people, and was wise enough to see that all traditional efforts would fail. He was outnumbered ten to one, and the ogres were practically at his doorstep. The desperation was practically rolling off of him in waves.”  
  
“So you decided to deal?”  
  
“I did. I watched for several hours, looking for something worthy, something… _precious_ …that would sate the magic.” Gold tilted his head, thinking back. “But your father had nothing, it seemed, he loved to distraction. No jewels, no fine clothing, no family heirlooms. I could tell he’d even give up his right to rule if I asked, so long as he was positive his people would be safe.” He caressed her hand gently. “He was a good man, your father. A good lord. He earned my respect.” His fingers tightened around hers. “And then you came.”  
  
Belle smiled fondly, remembering how she used to enter the War Room without notice. She didn’t care about the condescending looks from her father’s advisors and ignored the heated whispers. A woman might have no place there, but a daughter’s duty was to stand by her father. That was all that mattered to her.  
  
“I could see at once you were the light in his life. His eyes became bright, his breathing calmed. He drew strength from your mere presence. He might have given up the fight months earlier, if not for you.” Placing a finger under her chin, he tilted her face up so his eyes could meet hers. “And there you were, dressed from head to toe in my price, precisely what your father offered me.”  
  
Belle’s breath caught in her throat unexpectedly. “Gold. My gold gown.”  
  
“What could be more perfect?” he whispered. “A beautiful woman, a woman I immediately saw had brains and courage, who forced her way into a man’s realm without hesitation. A woman draped in my color. And the most precious thing in your father’s world.” He shook his head, as though still surprised at his good fortune. “What better deal could I possibly make?”  
  
“I…don’t even know what to say,” Belle admitted. “I never thought…I never dreamed…”  
  
“Neither had I, dearie. But the first day, the first  _moment_  I saw you, I knew.” He gazed down her. “Something precious, something golden...”  
  
“Something to last forever,” Belle whispered, raising her lips to his.  
  
The deal was struck.


End file.
